So You Want To Write A Cookbook? Part II: Selling Your Proposal
By Jenny McCoy, Chef Instructor—School of Pastry & Baking Arts
Now that you've finished writing your cookbook proposal—using my handy little outline published on the ICE Blog last month—the next step is to share your idea with the world! But how does that happen exactly? There are several options for pitching your idea and selling your cookbook proposal, some of which can be more challenging than others. I'm sharing my top three options for aspiring authors, in order of practical preference:
- Find An Agent
While it may seem difficult to hand over 15% (this percentage is industry standard) of your cookbook advance money, I can't think of a better investment. Publishers and editors give first priority to proposals delivered by a good literary agent, so if you want to guarantee that your proposal won't get lost in a stack of papers, this is the way to go.
A good agent can also help tailor your proposal to the likes of certain publishers. They know if your idea is relevant and on-trend. They can help you to edit the language in your proposal to make it shine—and to help it sell for as much as possible. They do all the legwork: sending your proposal to publishing houses, following up with editors, arranging interviews with potential editors and, if need be, harassing publishers until they take note of your proposal.